Vehicle graphics are a cost-effective advertising medium. In the chart below, Nielson Consumer Research and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) compared annualized advertising costs in 40 top media markets. Fleet graphics (the bigger “cousin” of car wraps) had the lowest costs in this study. Car, van and truck wraps which require less vinyl have a lower cost-per-view.
Vehicle Wraps
Advertising Dollar Impact
Cost per thousand impressions
Marketing Value
Why Every Marketing Plan Should Include Vehicle Wraps
Vehicle wraps are the least expensive medium to get the word out about your brand! Put your vehicles to work as mobile billboards.
Key Findings
- Car and truck wraps capture interest attention
- Provide the lowest cost per view of any major advertising medium
- Car and truck wraps add a new dimension to your real estate marketing
- Change your message to target your audience
- Car and truck wraps may qualify for tax write-offs
Car Wraps and the cost of new business
Media that is close to “permanent” will usually garner the greatest number of impressions. The greatest number of impressions will yield a predictable response rate.
Direct mail is delivered, hopefully viewed then filed in the kitchen trash. TV commercials last less than 60 seconds and most of us watch a great number of them with the sound muted. A good argument could be made that the Yellow Pages aren’t viewed much at all anymore. Upon arrival of the directories at our facility they are quickly ushered through the building and out the back door to the awaiting recycling bin.
So it would seem that some form of permanent or long-term media through which we can promote our business is going to be a preferred media. Refrigerator magnets are a good example. No one throws those things away unless they lose their magnetic grip. They, and their message, are good for years.
Posters are yet another example. Depending on their subject matter, and the length of the message’s relevancy a good poster can deliver its message for a good long while.
What about car wraps? With a good installation a properly executed vehicle wrap can last 5-7 years depending upon how well you take care of it and the severity of the weather you leave it exposed to. That media will be viewed daily by an audience of hundreds to many thousands of people. You’ve wanted a hands-off, inexpensive, long-term way to remind the people in your business sphere that you’re here, well now you have it.
And the cost? You can count on a good car wrap to cost between $2000 and $5000 dollars depending on a lot of variables. For the sake of being conservative in our claims, let’s call the cost of this wrap $5000. That wrap will last 5 years, or 1,825 days, with proper care. Divide $5000 by 1,825 days and you’ll arrive at your cost per day calculation of $2.74.
That’s the approximate cost to send out an email blast every day to touch only a fraction of the number of people your car wrap will. Now we’d like to know your cost per impression—how much does it cost for someone to see your vehicle wrap’s message.
Assuming you drive to work with everyone else, park conspicuously by a well traveled road and/or drive about town for several hours each day, you’re off to a good start. Follow that with the evening trip back to your crib with everyone else in the evening and it’s a safe claim to say that you’ve probably exceeded 10,000 views in a single day. $2.74 divided by 10,000 views is $.000274 per view. Rounding up that’s only three ten-thousandths of a cent per view.
The only thing that might rival your car wrap for number of views is a billboard and even though their total number of exposures is far greater, they’re going to be a lot harder on your cash-flow since they’ll cost you $2,000 and up each and every month. And your vehicle wrap will be far cooler than a billboard anyway!
So think “car wrap”. There are a number of ways to finance one and it’s a long-term, cost-effective use of your advertising funds. A good vehicle wrap may be just what your business needs to break through to the next level.
